The Xbox Series X and Series S just got a major update to their Energy Saving modes from Microsoft, and it could be a big one.
Microsoft's Xbox Series X (black) and series S (white) gaming consoles are displayed at a flagship store of SK Telecom in Seoul on November 10, 2020
According to TechRadar, Microsoft allows the consoles to download system and game updates while in Energy Saving mode. Previously, this was only doable in Standby Mode, which consumed way more power.
Compared to Standby Mode, Energy Saver Mode consumes as little as 20 times less power. It has also been toggled as the default option for the console, meaning you won't have to turn it on if you're setting up a new system for the first time. Considering how electricity bills have been skyrocketing these past few years, this could be a godsend for those wary about their power consumption.
Microsoft says that this update is part of the sustainability efforts for Xbox, as per their post on Xbox Wire. In it, they detailed how they plan to be carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030 and how the Xbox Series consoles will play a major part in those efforts.
If you haven't set up Energy Saver Mode yet, you can do so by going to Settings > Sleep Mode & Startup > Sleep Mode > Energy Saver. The only noticeable change, however, is that it might be a bit slower to turn your console on from a cold boot, writes The Verge.
But since the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S already boot up so fast anyway, you won't notice too much of a slowdown. You'll likely only experience a more major slowdown on an older Xbox One.
Nevertheless, turning on Energy Saver Mode can be worth doing so. It now allows you to leave your console on overnight downloading game updates without worrying about your power bill. Game and system updates can be massive and take several hours to download.
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Just How Much Power Does The Xbox Series X And Series S Consume Before This Update?
Before this major update to Energy Saving Mode, really not much, to begin with. And it also depends on the game that the consoles are running. In a review by Anandtech, the Series X was shown to consume around 156-202 watts of power between playing "Assassin's Creed Odyssey" and "Gears 5."
But when doing something not too power-hungry like browsing the dashboard, the console uses up around 45 watts of power. And if you use the Instant-On (aka Standby mode), which further reduces the console's boot time, it can consume around 30 watts.
As for the smaller Xbox Series S, the power consumption is even less. Playing "Gears 5" only netted a peak consumption of 82.5 watts, 25 watts when on the dashboard, and 16 watts when on Standby Mode, according to a review by Eurogamer.
With the new Energy Saver Mode update, which Microsoft says makes the consoles consume 20x less power, do the math, and you'll see just how big of a deal the update is.
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Story posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
